Hello all. So I am torn between the two devices. Currently I have a iPad mini and I really like the device overall. I'm not completely satisfied with it but it's probably the best tablet that I've tried so far. I like the size and weight of it but i'm not completely sold on the screen, the lower resolution does bother me a little bit. Another thing that I wasn't to fond of on the mini was when I went to watch a movie the letterbox seemed to take up almost half the screen. Also at times I notice some lag and/or unrecognized gesture inputs. It's not terrible just not as smooth as I would have liked it. I haven't spent a lot of time playing with a iPad 4, just a few mins in the store and it looked nice but I didn't want to plop down $500 for it, however if it would be noticeably better then I could justify doing it.

What I would mainly use the device for would be to read school books, to watch movies on when I travel, web surfing, skype/face time chat, and e-mail. I'm not a big gamer on tablets.

I've had a hard time finding reviews that go in depth on the use of the mini or iPad 4 for reading textbooks. From what I saw people like the mini because it is lighter and easier to hold for reading, however people liked the iPad 4 for having the better screen and not having to zoom in to read something.

It really is a personal preference. I would suggest to go to an Apple store and play with both again, if you are within a return period of your Mini.

With the iPad 4 you have a clearer screen, faster performance, but also it's physically larger and weighs about 2x the Mini.

With the Mini, the screen is in-between the iPad 2 and the iPad 4 for clarity. It's easier to hold, lighter and more portable.

Movie watching you are not going to see as big a difference in the screens clarity as you would plain text on a page. If possible I would get the 2 devices side by side, and figure out what differences are most important to you.

I have the iPad 2 and the mini so the screen is actually better on the mini cause it's smaller at the same resolution. The mini thus has a greater PPI... so I can't speak for differences in retina vs. mini but I can tell you I think the screen on the mini is more than adequate... I do however find the screen on the iPad 2 to be a little bit blurry on text when reading webpages. But mini vs. iPad 4? I would stick with mini cause you can hold it in one hand, slip it in your bag nice and easy, maybe even your pocket and so on... I think the weight and portability make it the superior device, plus I don't mind zooming in on text on webpages. The more I get to interact with my devices the more fun I have with them... I just double tap to smart zoom anyway.. never pinch to zoom.

I think this is a difficult question to response to, as so much of it really depends on YOU.

However, please be aware that it is likely we will see a new iPad mini before the holidays (winter), so if you buy a mini now you might feel bad when in less than a year there is a new one out with a very high res screen (the ppi will be the same as the iPhones and higher than that of the iPad 4/3) as well as superior internals (we are hoping it doesn't get too much heavier). Also, an iPad 5 might show up too. My guess for that is a different form factor (more like the mini), lighter weight, and perhaps even faster cpu/gpu. But all of this is speculation, but it needs to be kept in your thoughts.

But if you plan on doing a lot of reading, then the retina is nice to have. That's not to say the mini is bad, but one can't help but notice the extra resolution. It pays be dividends when reading some mags and PDFs (not so much for Kindle books as these scale the fonts to the screen, so they read just fine on the current mini).

I find the mini feels just as fast as the iPad 3...but the iPad 3 is pushing a lot more pixels for everything it throw on the screen. The mini doesn't. I don't find any lag in most things I do on mine. Movies are always going to be less than optimal on any iPad because of the 4:3 ratio of the screen and the fact that most movies are wide screen...some are like 1.78 to 1 and others are 2.34 to 1, so you will have those borders. You get that on the larger screen iPads too. If this is a big deal for you, then you might be happier with a Nexus 10, because there you get a truly larger screen (not so on the Nexus 7 -- what you get there is actually smaller than what you get on the Mini even with the borders because the mini's screen is larger than that of the Nexus 7).

I would say if you have to buy now, get the iPad 4. It will pay off more for what you need. If you can wait, though, that offers, in my mind, the best chances of getting a mini which will serve most of your needs well. It will never be the best platform for movie watching, but IMO, no tablet is anywhere close to optimal for movie watching. I do that when I have no other options, but I never truly enjoy it.

The mini edges out the 4 in portability IMO due to weight and size, def try them out in store though. The mini is also more comfortable to hold . If the 5 is designed like the mini with a reduced bezel I may switch

Hi everyone, im new here and wanted to share my thoughts as I was in the same boat for a while. I wanted an iPad desperately, but didn't know to go with the Retina or Mini. I went with the Mini. And I love it. I was hesitant more than anything because of the rumor of a new ipad maybe this month or in June, but I really needed it and I figured getting the mini couldn't be the wrong move. I do feel the Retina (and previous generations) are a bit too big for my preference. I feel comfortable with a full size iPad only when at my desk or at any table (point is i need space and resting area for it). I do a lot of reading, but once I tried the Retina and Mini at my local best buy I truly felt comfortable with the mini display (especially comparing it to other NON-apple tablets). The portability is just perfect.

I do feel very uncomfortable with the way iBooks works, but hopefully it will be upgraded in the near future to a better app. I don't game at all. I use email for work a ton and do a bit of web browsing. More than anything I like to stay organized with it and enjoy my engineering trainings on it. Carrying all the videos and pdf trainings in such a small size and great display is priceless. When I was buying it I took my wife to help me decide on which one. The price solely convinced her on the mini (lol), but she also pointed out that the camera was just as good as the Retina version ipad. I really hadn't noticed that as I am not into pictures and only use it on the occasional face time with her on her iphone. Any way. I definitely recommend the mini iPad!!

Any good articles on ipad use please link me to them. I would appreciate it very much. I still have trouble getting along with my ipad through itunes.

Hi everyone, im new here and wanted to share my thoughts as I was in the same boat for a while. I wanted an iPad desperately, but didn't know to go with the Retina or Mini. I went with the Mini. And I love it. I was hesitant more than anything because of the rumor of a new ipad maybe this month or in June, but I really needed it and I figured getting the mini couldn't be the wrong move. I do feel the Retina (and previous generations) are a bit too big for my preference. I feel comfortable with a full size iPad only when at my desk or at any table (point is i need space and resting area for it). I do a lot of reading, but once I tried the Retina and Mini at my local best buy I truly felt comfortable with the mini display (especially comparing it to other NON-apple tablets). The portability is just perfect.

I do feel very uncomfortable with the way iBooks works, but hopefully it will be upgraded in the near future to a better app. I don't game at all. I use email for work a ton and do a bit of web browsing. More than anything I like to stay organized with it and enjoy my engineering trainings on it. Carrying all the videos and pdf trainings in such a small size and great display is priceless. When I was buying it I took my wife to help me decide on which one. The price solely convinced her on the mini (lol), but she also pointed out that the camera was just as good as the Retina version ipad. I really hadn't noticed that as I am not into pictures and only use it on the occasional face time with her on her iphone. Any way. I definitely recommend the mini iPad!!

Any good articles on ipad use please link me to them. I would appreciate it very much. I still have trouble getting along with my ipad through itunes.

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